Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Our latest articles delivered to your inbox, once a week: Our mission is to engage people with cultural heritage and to improve history education worldwide. Another point in the eunuchs’ favour was that they had known their emperor perhaps for all his life and that they were the only males the ruler ever met until adulthood. I love the happy ending, although kinda sad watching Wang Zhi going away from capital, leaving the King, Queen, Tang Fan n Sui Zhou. Childhood. Ignoring the counsel of the regular military leaders, Wang persuaded the emperor to embark on a war against the Oirat branch of the Mongol tribes, who had rapidly increased their power along China’s northwestern borders under the leadership of Esen Taiji. the capital guard), the inner section of infantry (neicao 內操), and managed the state prison. "Eunuchs in Ancient China." The eunuchs’ even greater power ultimately resulted in government officials and students banding together and staging protests in 166 and 168-169 CE. Cite This Work The privileges granted to these minions surpassed that of any state official. Military matters were exclusively handled by members of the ruling elite, the Manchus, and memorials handled by princes or members of the Council of State (junjichu 軍機處). "Zhongguo gudai guanguan zhidu 中國古代宦官制度" , in. "Chinese Palace Eunuchs: Shadows of the Emperor". Their influence on government would result in the falling of dynasties and last right up to the 17th century CE. "On the Terms bao zi, yin gong, yin guan, huan, and shou: Was Zhao Gao a Eunuch?”. Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree.... …exploitatively dominated by favoured eunuchs: …about 1313 a magistrate named Wang Chen seems to have had a craftsman carve more than 60,000 characters on movable wooden blocks so that a treatise on the history of technology could be published. They had the same right as the three Judicial Offices (sanfasi 三法司, i.e. Following rebellions in the provinces by renegade military commanders, the imperial court was eager to strengthen its position and so created a new palace army in the mid-8th century CE. 03 Nov 2020. Finlay, Robert (1997). by Liu Naiyuan. License. Announcing our NEW encyclopedia for Kids! 304-305 (Huanguan zhuan 宦官傳) in the Mingshi 明史 and ch. The first chief eunuch dominating an emperor was Wang Zhen 王振 (d. 1449), who had all his opponents wiped out. "Ritual Propriety and Political Intrigue in the Xuande Gate Incident". (in Di Cosmo, 208). Eunuchs acted as fetchers and carriers, bodyguards, nurses, and essentially performed the roles of valets, butlers, maids, and cooks combined. This article was most recently revised and updated by, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Wang-Zhen-Chinese-eunuch. Last modified July 27, 2017. Chinese Eunuchsby Unknown Artist (Public Domain). He works directly under the emperor, but his loyalty lies with the Guifei (Imperial Concubine). The eunuchs were put in charge of this new force and soon began to create problems of their own for the emperor. Often aligning themselves with the powerful Buddhist monasteries, they advised, spied, and intrigued in equal measure in order to acquire the top positions in the state apparatus. The luckier officials, students, and intellectuals who had spoken out against eunuch power were merely excluded from ever holding public office. Kutcher, Norman A. During the 2nd century CE, in particular, a succession of weak emperors were easily manipulated by the eunuchs at court. "Portuguese and Chinese Maritime Imperialism: Camões Lusiads and Luo Maodeng's Voyage of the San Bao Eunuch", in Robert Forster, ed. He then returned to China and wowed the court with his exotic captures such as giraffes, lions, and fabulous gems. Wu, H. Laura (2009). The only serious disruption of the peace occurred in 1449 when… After that, his uncle, the Jingtai Emperor, took over the throne whilst his father was released from Oirats and returned to Beijing in 1450 and was put under house arrest for almost seven years. They supervised the Eastern Depot, the Integrated Division (i.e. Yang, Xiaoshan (2012). Eunuchs were powerful political players in ancient Chinese government. He won famous victories in the north-west border regions in his youth, quashed the Fang La rebellion in Zhejiang province and continued to loyally serve his emperor into his seventies. Ancient History Encyclopedia. Thank you! Ancient History Encyclopedia, 27 Jul 2017. These privileges invigorated the power of the sovereign that was, during the Ming period, quite authoritarian anyway. During the Song Dynasty (960-1279 CE) eunuchs were often made military commanders. ³ (1589-1662å¹´) retained great influence. https://www.ancient.eu/article/1109/. During that period four infamous dictators - Wang Zhen, Wang Zhi, Liu Jin, and Wei Zhongxian - were all eunuchs. "The Monarch and Inner-Outer Court Dualism in Late Imperial China", in Jeroen Duindam, Tülay Artan, Metin Kunt, eds. Very often the eunuchs encouraged and made worse political factions, which damaged the unity of the government. Dabringhaus, Sabine (2011). Despite their privileged position, the general public’s view of eunuchs was extremely negative as they were regarded as the lowest class of all servants. Most of the powerful eunuchs were able to distract the attention of weak rulers from the realm of politics to that of private entertainment. Luan Chengxian 欒成顯, Guan Wenfa 關文發 (1992). In 189 CE events took an even more brutal turn. Dale, Melissa S. (2017). Chen, Gilbert (2016). Please support Ancient History Encyclopedia Foundation. "Jesuits and Eunuchs: Representing Masculinity in Late Ming China". The last of the trio is Wang Zhi, a eunuch who is in charge of the Western Depot. To him is also attributed the invention of horizontal compartmented cases that revolved about a vertical…. On his various travels, He followed Arab trading routes and stopped off at such far-flung places as Vietnam, Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka, and East Africa. In gratitude, the emperor awarded a noble title to five leading eunuchs. The Ancient History Encyclopedia logo is a registered EU trademark. The mistrust of Emperor Taizu towards the officialdom in general was thus intensified in the long run, and the ceremonial distance between the ruler and his advisors increased. Ancient History Encyclopedia Foundation is a non-profit organization. "Eunuchs and the Administration of Justice during the Mid-Ming Dynasty", tr. Web. Omissions? During that period four infamous dictators - Wang Zhen, Wang Zhi, Liu Jin, and Wei Zhongxian - were all eunuchs. Please note that content linked from this page may have different licensing terms. Numerous educational institutions recommend us, including Oxford University and Michigan State University and University of Missouri. Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. East Asia in the year 1 CEby Stone Chen (CC BY-NC-SA). Submitted by Mark Cartwright, published on 27 July 2017 under the following license: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike. From the early 15th century CE the eunuchs set up their own mini-bureaucracy at court where they could ferret away paperwork and filter out the input of government ministers in state affairs. As a shocking demonstration to any future conspirators, three chancellors along with their families were publicly executed in one of the marketplaces of the capital, Chang’an. At the end of the century, this eunuch-led apparatus had grown spectacularly to 12,000 employees, making it the equal of the official state bureaucracy. Any other males were forbidden from staying overnight in the palace, and any person who entered unauthorised faced the death penalty. One such figure was Tong Guan (1054-1126 CE) who was Emperor Huizong’s most important general. Doran, Christine (2010). How much the eunuchs' influence depended on the emperor's favour came to light when Emperor Sizong acceded to the throne: He made an immediate end to the machinations of Wei Zhongxian and had him executed. Wang was the constant companion and personal servant of the emperor Yingzong (1427–64), who ascended the throne while still a boy. Another famous eunuch was Zheng He (1371-1433 CE) who made seven voyages to the Indian Ocean for Emperor Yongle of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 CE). This comedic drama features a wildly imaginative yet oddly fitting crime fighting menage a trois comprising of a low (sixth) ranked magistrate (Tang Fan), a high-ranked embroidered guard (jingyi wei; Sui Zhou) and an influential eunuch (Wang Zhi) with the emperor's ear. Cartwright, M. (2017, July 27). He holds an MA in Political Philosophy and is the Publishing Director at AHE. It even included a secret service branch which could investigate corruption or identify suspects who might plot against the status quo and imprison, beat, and torture them if necessary in the prison the eunuchs had created for that purpose. Wang Zhi comes off as a friendly person, but he’s actually probably the most terrifying of the three. Wang Zhen, Wade-Giles romanization Wang Chen, (died August 1449, Hebei province, China), Chinese eunuch who monopolized power during the first reign of the Ming emperor Yingzong (reigned as Zhengtong; 1435–49). Wow what a boy who has HUGE burden to be an eunuch. Castrated and brought to serve the royal household, they had no real means of altering their lives. The position of court officials and ministers was critically trimmed. Other articles where Wang Zhi is discussed: China: The dynastic succession: …Wang Zhen in the 1440s, Wang Zhi in the 1470s and ’80s, and Liu Jin from 1505 to 1510. The biography, which appears in the Song History, displays the typical disdain and prejudice that eunuchs suffered even if they were such talented individuals as Guan: It was his nature to be cunning and fawning. Eunuchs, with their special access to the Inner Court (Neiting), where no ordinary officials were permitted, could be especially prominent when the ruler was not yet an adult and they fully exploited the possibility of not only filtering out communications from ministers to the emperor and vice versa but also appointments so that very often ministers simply could not gain an audience with their ruler.

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